“Old… Old Qi?” Chen Junnan looked at Qi Xia and called out tentatively.

Qi Xia’s entire body remained motionless. Only his pupils turned toward Chen Junnan’s direction, then he slowly tilted his head, as if carefully observing him.

“Buddy…” Chen Junnan swallowed. “What’s wrong with you? Just now… did you sleep with a stiff neck?”

“No.” Qi Xia opened his mouth to reply. “I’m very well right now.”

After saying this, he noticeably raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile that didn’t belong to him.

Tiantian and Qiao Jiajin looked at each other. For a moment, neither knew what to say. Qi Xia indeed didn’t look like anything was wrong, but his condition was truly too strange.

“You… as long as you’re fine now…” Chen Junnan forced a smile along with Qi Xia. “You really had us brothers worried just now…”

“Yeah, Liar…” Qiao Jiajin also nodded. “Your eyes look weird… Are you really okay?”

“Ha…”

Qi Xia chuckled softly again. When they saw this smile, everyone finally understood what this feeling was.

Qi Xia didn’t seem sick—he seemed more like he had gone mad.

“I’m fine…?” Qi Xia said with a smile as he stood up. “How I wish I were fine.”

After saying this, he walked toward everyone step by step. For some unknown reason, Zheng Yingxiong kept backing away following Qi Xia’s footsteps.

“How much I wanted to spend this lifetime peacefully…” Qi Xia continued. “But who has ever given me a chance?”

“Liar, what are you talking about…” Qiao Jiajin blinked.

Qi Xia slowly raised his hand and pinched his thumb and index finger together. “Even this small of a hope, even just this tiny bit…”

“What do you mean ‘no one has given you hope’…” Qiao Jiajin forced a bitter smile. “Liar, aren’t we still here?”

“Yeah, Old Qi, that statement of yours has got us brothers all confused…”

“You’re all useless now.” Qi Xia said. “Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, you two are useless now. Go wherever you want.”

“…?”

Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan slowly widened their eyes upon hearing this, as if trying to determine whether they had just misheard.

“Li-Liar, what do you mean?”

Chen Junnan’s pupils flickered somewhat. He asked hoarsely, “Old Qi… what the hell are you saying?”

“Are you deaf?” Qi Xia glared at Chen Junnan with his gray-white eyeballs, then enunciated word by word, “I… said… you… all…”

Before he could finish, Chen Junnan rushed forward directly and punched Qi Xia in the face. Qi Xia, hit heavily, sat back down on the sofa again. His head twisted to one side, the corners of his mouth still raised.

“Old Qi, say that shit again!” Chen Junnan pointed at Qi Xia viciously with his hand extended.

Seeing things were going badly, Qiao Jiajin immediately stepped forward to hold Chen Junnan back. “Junnan… calm down… The Liar’s condition isn’t good right now…”

“Even if his condition isn’t good, he can’t spout such bullshit!” Chen Junnan’s emotions were clearly somewhat out of control. Usually carefree and smiling, even his voice began to tremble. “Old Qi, I told you before, didn’t I?! I fucking told you, didn’t I?! You can use this worthless life of mine however you want. It doesn’t matter if I die several times, but you promised me you’d bring Old Qiao out!”

Seeing this, Tiantian was also somewhat frightened. She stepped forward and slowly tugged at him. “Chen Junnan… cool down first…”

“Cool down my ass!!” Chen Junnan cursed loudly. “Last time I believed in him wholeheartedly and followed his instructions to trap you all in that room for seven years. Do you know how I ensured I didn’t go crazy?! Do you know what kind of hell I went through?! This time he came back, I thought all hope had returned, but he’s telling me it was all fake…? Is all this fucking fake?!”

“Junnan…” Qiao Jiajin felt his own heartbeat quicken a bit, as if something was slowly cracking open within his heart. “We’re all brothers… Whatever it is, don’t start fighting first…”

“Yeah…” Tiantian also chimed in from the side. “You all calm down a bit…”

“Hahahaha!” Sitting in his seat, Qi Xia raised his hand to support his forehead, then laughed maniacally. “How naive… Chen Junnan… how dare you believe me?”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“How exactly do you all dare to believe me?” Qi Xia stood up again, staring straight at Chen Junnan. “I said I would escape, and I also said I would bring Qiao Jiajin out. But I’m a liar. You can only believe half of what I say.”

“Half…” Chen Junnan was clearly quite angry. He kept trembling. “So should I believe the first half of your sentence…? You fucking want to escape by yourself? The second half is fake?!”

“No, ‘escaping’ is fake.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Stop being foolish. No one can escape from this place. Give up.”

“What…?” Chen Junnan stepped forward again and grabbed Qi Xia’s collar. “Whether or not anyone can escape from this place, how could you possibly know?”

Qiao Jiajin quickly stepped forward to pull him back again. “Hey, Junnan…”

“Because I’ve tried every route. They’re all dead ends.” Qi Xia forcefully pushed away Chen Junnan’s hand. “So you don’t need to waste your efforts either. I will lead everyone to live well here.”

Upon hearing this sentence from Qi Xia, Chen Junnan felt his back grow somewhat cold. “What do you mean… lead us to live well here…?”

Qiao Jiajin’s throat also tightened somewhat. After holding back for a long time, he finally spoke. “Liar, are you still a bit confused from sleeping…?”

“I’ve penetrated the answer to this world.” Qi Xia said as if talking to himself. “I’m still not smart enough. It took a full seventy years to figure it out… I originally thought my plan was flawless, but now it seems there’s still one link missing.”

“Missing one link…?”

Qi Xia slowly raised his hand and touched his forehead. “My memories are actually this scattered… Has Wen Qiaoyun already died?”

Upon hearing this name, everyone’s faces showed puzzled expressions.

“No matter… fortunately there are other ‘needles’… there’s still Yan Zhichun.” The corners of Qi Xia’s mouth curved upward. “I’ve inserted a needle into every vital point of the ‘Land of the End.’ The ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ should have awakened too, right?”

Qi Xia’s words left everyone present completely baffled.

Just as everyone was utterly bewildered, Zheng Yingxiong slowly walked forward, took off the crown folded from newspaper and placed it in front of himself, then knelt halfway down and lowered his head toward Qi Xia.

He could clearly smell that scent—the fleeting scent of a “god.”